The present invention relates to an improved lacrosse mesh. Mesh used in creating the pocket for a lacrosse stick is an extremely specialized area of technology. Mesh employed in other environments of use fails to contemplate the specialized environment of use of a lacrosse stick.
The typical environment of use of a lacrosse stick consists of an outdoor playing field, either synthetic or of natural turf utilized between the months of February and June, and often in the Northeastern United States. That environment, during that time period, exhibits an extremely wide range of temperatures. Game time temperatures can often be in the 20s F with oppressive wind conditions, and often rain and snow. Natural turf fields can often be muddy or even icy.
It is an important aspect of the art of mesh used as a pocket in a lacrosse stick that the player wishes the pocket to remain relatively stable in terms of its flexibility/stiffness, size, and configuration so that a player practicing with a lacrosse stick, for example, indoors, will have the same results when going outside in drastically different outdoor conditions.
Moreover, lacrosse players are often responsible for the maintenance of their sticks. They must install the mesh pocket, maintain the installation, repair any damage, and also make sure that the dimensions and depth of the pocket fully comply with high school or college rules.
Sometimes, there are other maintenance requirements. For example, some mesh pockets on lacrosse sticks include a coating applied over the mesh for one purpose or another, for example, to enhance stiffness or flexibility, to render the mesh waterproof, or to more easily facilitate removal of mud or other debris from the mesh pocket. When such coatings are used, they often deteriorate or otherwise require replenishment or re-coating. Players often do not recognize when replenishment or re-coating might be necessary and, as such, use of mesh pockets bearing a coating can sometimes be problematic.
As such, a need has developed for a mesh used in the specialized area of lacrosse sticks that is relatively maintenance free, requires no re-coating, stays consistent in shape, configuration, and stiffness/flexibility under a wide variety of temperature and moisture conditions, and allows a player's practice performance to be re-created on a lacrosse field during a game.
There are other aspects of the environment of lacrosse sticks that render it extremely specialized. In particular, a lacrosse player must swing the stick in order to pass or shoot the lacrosse ball. The lighter the stick is and the lower its wind resistance, the faster the stick can be swung to enhance speed of passes and shots. Thus, if the mesh for a lacrosse stick is susceptible to a great degree of stretching, the openings therein must be made smaller to ensure they don't stretch to too large a size. Similarly, as the holes in the mesh are smaller, more mesh material is required in order to cover the opening in the crosse in which the mesh is strung.
It is well known that the force that must be applied is proportional to the mass and to the square of the velocity. What this means is that for equal force application, the lower the mass the higher the velocity achievable in an exponential way since a proportional mass reduction results in a squared velocity increase. As such, materials that perform all of the required features of mesh for a lacrosse stick that are lower in density and, as such, lighter, enable a player to swing a stick much faster with equal force application. It is with these needs in mind and with these requirements in mind that the present invention was developed.
The following prior art is known to Applicant:
U.S. Patents2,992,550 to Frith, Jr.7,022,035 to Morrow et al.3,171,272 to Frith, Jr.7,211,009 to Samaras et al.3,822,062 to Tucker et al.7,278,936 to Tucker, Jr.3,905,088 to Tucker et al.
U.S. Published Applications2001/0044347 A1 to Crawford2009/0082141 A1 to Wilton2007/0161436 A1 to Samaras et al.2012/0165140 A1 to Bound.2008/0146387 A1 to Gait
With regard to each of these patents and published applications, the materials they teach for use in the mesh of a lacrosse stick are any one or more of nylon, cotton or polyester. Some disclose the use of stiffening agents and other aspects including coatings. Some disclose the use of tubes installed over the strings of the mesh.
The materials nylon, polyester and cotton have deficiencies that render them less effective than should be the case for use as the mesh of a lacrosse stick. Nylon and cotton are both fluid pervious. As, such, they absorb liquid, thereby increasing their weight and changing their consistency, flexibility, and other properties. Even when dry, Applicant notes that polyester has a density of 1.38 g/cm3 while nylon has a density of 1.15 g/cm3 and cotton has a density of 1.54 g/cm3. These densities are somewhat high as compared to other possible mesh materials and, as such, increase the weight of the lacrosse stick at its furthest distance from where its handle is gripped by the player, namely, at the head or crosse thereof. As such, in the design and configuration of mesh for lacrosse stick heads, there is certainly room for improvement, in fact dramatic improvement. Moreover, again, the liquid absorbency of nylon and cotton renders those materials less advantageous due to the wide fluctuations in weight, consistency, and other properties during use.
It would also be advantageous if a mesh could be provided for a lacrosse stick that enhances the grippability of the ball within the pocket while at the same time not increasing, to too great a degree, the ability of the ball to easily leave the mesh when the associated player wants to shoot or pass the ball. All of the aspects set forth above have been taken into account by Applicant in seeking to determine a mesh material specifically usable in the narrow environment of lacrosse sticks that most advantageously enhances performance. With this in mind, and after a considerable degree of search and experimentation, Applicant developed the present invention.